Pholeuon comani

Moldovan, Oana Teodora, Racoviţă, Gheorghe & Dunay, Gejza, 2007, Reconsidering Pholeuon C. Hampe (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae), with the description of a new subgenus, Zootaxa 1449, pp. 31-43 : 34-38

Redescription of Pholeuon comani

(see also Table 1 )

As the original description of Pholeuon comani ( Ieniştea 1955) lacks several details, important in the tribe Leptodirini, such as the inner sac of the aedeagus, we propose here the redescription of this species.

Very small species, with body and all its parts smaller than in Protopholeuon and in other species of Pholeuon .

Total body length 3.18 mm (ɗ) and 3.47 mm (Ψ). Body shape elliptical, slightly more narrow anteriorly ( Fig. 2 ), color light brownish, eyes absent.

Antennae short (2.2 mm Ψ, 2.3 mm ɗ), slightly longer in males than in females: article 7 = 0.24 mm Ψ, 0.25 mm ɗ; article 8 = 0.15 mm Ψ and ɗ; article 9 = 0.21 mm Ψ, 0.22 mm ɗ; article 10 = 0.18 mm Ψ, 0.19 mm ɗ; article 11 = 0.22 mm Ψ, 0.24 mm ɗ. Length of articles 8, 9 and 11 twice their width, length of the articles 7 and the 10 is one and a half their width.

Mouthparts very similar to examined species of Pholeuon (Figs. 4, a–d) (described for Pholeuon proserpinae Knirsch, 1913 by Moldovan et al. 2004): maxillary palpomeres thin and elongate; galea flattened and covered with dense pubescence like hair-brush; lacinea shorter than galea, and covered with strong and curved bristles; mandibles wide, with curved apex having two teeth and no denticle between them; masticator border has ramified hairs.

Pronotum small, short (0.81 mm ɗ, 0.87 mm Ψ) and narrow (0.86 mm ɗ, 0.94 mm Ψ), but large relative to elytra; very narrow anteriorly (0.48 mm ɗ, 0.51 mm Ψ); posteriorly with almost parallel edges. Pronotum in lateral view as in Fig. 5 .

Elytra convex, length 2.17 mm ɗ and 2.40 mm Ψ, width 1.35 mm ɗ and 1.50 mm Ψ; anterior half slightly wider than posterior half; punctation scattered, not arranged in parallel lines. Elytral pubescence short and dense.

Male tarsi 5-segmented and female tarsi 4-segmented. Protarsi length 0.31 mm (ɗ) and 0.24 mm (Ψ), width 0.10 mm (ɗ) and 0.06 mm (Ψ). In both sexes legs elongated, with long sensory setae and long claws; adhesive pads on tarsal setae present only in male (Figs. 4, e–f), as in all other species of Pholeuon . Aedeagus small (length 1.1 mm), dorsally with invagination less deep than in other species of Pholeuon ; long apical and basal blades and very short body (median blade) ( Fig. 6 ); median part of the invagination is completely reduced. Parameres apically thinner, slightly inflected, with three setae, as in all species of Pholeuon ; inner sac with two tufts of sclerotized prickles ( Fig. 6 ).

Spermatheca ( Fig. 7 ) similar to that of other species of Pholeuon .

Mesopholeuon Moldovan, Racovi ţă & Dunay, new subgenus

Type species: Pholeuon comani Ieniştea, 1955 .

Derivatio nominis: morphologically, the name Mesopholeuon refers to our view that this subgenus can be considered intermediate between Protopholeuon and Pholeuon .

FIGURE 4. Mouthparts and details of anterior tarsus and pretarsus of Pholeuon comani . a. maxilla with long galea and elongated maxillar palp, scale bar 150 µm; b. labium in dorsal view with tufts of sensory setae and labial palps, scale bar 150 µm; c. labrum with sensory setae boarding its apex, scale bar 100 µm; d. left mandible with two apical teeth, scale bar 100 µm; e. detail of the male tarsus 1st article, covered by setae with adhesive pads, scale bar 25 µm; f. protarsal segment 5 and pretarsus, scale bar 50 µm. Abbreviations: c—claw, e—empodium, g—galea, h—sensory setae, l—lacinea, lp—labial palp, mp—maxillar palp, t—teeth, u—unguitractor.

Description and diagnosis. The adults have the attributes characteristic for all Pholeuon species and, additionally, the following combination of features:

Body ( Figs. 2 , 3 ) very small (3.0– 3.5 mm in length), with typical pholeuonid form, elongated and slender; brown-reddish color.

Head small with relatively short antennae.

Pronotum relatively large, slightly wider than longer; extremely narrow anteriorly, almost half of the maximum width of the pronotum; posteriorly with parallel edges.

Elytra elliptical, dorso-ventrally very convex with fine, short and dense punctation.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 6 ) small and robust, with less deep dorsal invagination, long apical and basal blades and very short body; median part of the invagination is completely reduced; parameres apically thinner, slightly inflected, with three setae; inner sac with two tufts of sclerotized prickles.

The subgenus Mesopholeuon includes the smallest species of the genus. Body, pronotum, elytrae are the shortest and narrowest among the Pholeuon species. Some of the most distinct features of Mesopholeuon are the very reduced anterior part of pronotum (aPw on Fig. 3 ), and the short antennae. Other diagnostic characters of Mesopholeuon are in the aedeagus, particularly its small size due to the reduction of the median lobe, and dorsal invagination ( Fig. 8 ) being less deep and completely reduced in its median part. The basal and apical blades are long, almost as long as in the other species of Pholeuon .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Habitus of Pholeuon comani (♂) from the cave Peştera cu Apä de la Moarä (PAM).

FIGURE 3. Characters measured for comparison and statistical analysis: AL—length of antennae, aPw—apical width of pronotum, BL—body length, bPw—width of pronotum at base, EL—length of elytrae, Ew—width of elytrae, HL—head length, MPw—maximum width of pronotum, mPw—minimum width of pronotum, PL—pronotal length.

FIGURE 8. Aedeagus in lateral (right) and dorsal (left; only the apex shown) views. a. Protopholeuon hungaricum, b. Pholeuon (Mesopholeuon) comani, c. P. (s. str.) knirschi frivaldszki, d. P. (s. str.) angusticolle, e. P. (Parapholeuon) gracile.

FIGURES 5 – 7. Details of Pholeuon comani. 5, lateral view of pronotum, with prominent sternal apophysis (arrow); 6, aedeagus in lateral and dorsal views; reduction of the dorsal invagination in its median part is indicated by arrow; abapical blade, bb—basal blade, be—body of the aedeagus (median lobe); 7, spermatheca.

Tables

TABLE 1. Means (in mm) with standard deviations (italics) (p = 1 %): BL = body length (the head was measured in the normal position, retracted under the pronotum), PL = pronotum length, aPw = apical width of pronotum, MPw = maximum width of pronotum, mPw = minimum width of pronotum, bPw = width of pronotum at base, EL = length of elytra, Ew = width of elytra, AL = length of antennae (see also Fig. 3).

Characters	P. (M.) comani (PAM)	Protopholeuonhun- garicum (LC)	P. (s. str.) knirs- P. (s. str.) angusticolle chi(SBC) (PPC)	P. (P.) gracile (CC)
Males
BL PL	3.18 ± 0.10 0.81 ± 0.02	3.65 ± 0.04 0.87 ± 0.01	4.82 ± 0.03 4.30 ± 0.03 1.21 ± 0.01 1.07 ± 0.01	3.81 ± 0.06 0.86 ± 0.01
aPw	0.48 ± 0.02	0.63 ± 0.01	0.81 ± 0.01 0.73 ± 0.01	0.64 ± 0.01
MPw mPw	0.86± 0.03 0.72 ± 0.04	0.93 ± 0.01 0.78 ± 0.01	1.23 ± 0.01 1.10 ± 0.01 1.07 ± 0.01 0.96 ± 0.01	0.96 ± 0.01 0.79 ± 0.01
bPw	0.72 ± 0.04	0.80 ± 0.01	1.12 ± 0.01 0.96 ± 0.01	0.83 ± 0.01
EL Ew	2.17 ± 0.07 1.35 ± 0.06	2.58 ± 0.03 1.44 ± 0.02	3.31 ± 0.03 2.94 ± 0.02 2.05 ± 0.01 1.72 ± 0.01	2.70 ± 0.02 1.55 ± 0.01
AL	2.25 ± 0.09	2.57 ± 0.04	3.56 ± 0.03 3.03 ± 0.03	3.09 ± 0.02
PL/MPw aPw/MPw	0.95 ± 0.03 0.56 ± 0.02	0.93 ± 0.01 0.67 ± 0.01	0.98 ± 0.01 0.97 ± 0.01 0.66 ± 0.00 0.67 ± 0.00	0.89 ± 0.00 0.66 ± 0.00
mPw/MPw	0.84 ± 0.02	0.83 ± 0.01	0.87 ± 0.00 0.87 ± 0.00	0.82 ± 0.00
bPw/mPw aPw/bPw	1.00 ± 0.02 0.67 ± 0.03	1.03 ± 0.01 0.79 ± 0.01	1.05 ± 0.01 1.01 ± 0.01 0.72 ± 0.01 0.77 ± 0.01	1.04 ± 0.00 0.72 ± 0.01
EL/Ew	1.61 ± 0.03	1.80 ± 0.02	1.62 ± 0.01 1.71 ± 0.01	1.75 ± 0.01
AL/BL MPw/Ew	0.71 ± 0.01 0.64 ± 0.02	0.70 ± 0.01 0.65 ± 0.01	0.74 ± 0.00 0.70 ± 0.00 0.60 ± 0.00 0.64 ± 0.00	0.81 ± 0.00 0.63 ± 0.00
Females
BL PL	3.47 ± 0.06 0.87 ± 0.02	3.82 ± 0.03 0.89 ± 0.01	5.07 ± 0.03 4.52 ± 0.03 1.24 ± 0.01 1.09 ± 0.01	4.09 ± 0.03 0.88 ± 0.01
aPw	0.51 ± 0.01	0.66 ± 0.01	0.86 ± 0.01 0.77 ± 0.01	0.66 ± 0.01
MPw mPw	0.94 ± 0.02 0.80 ± 0.02	0.98 ± 0.01 0.83 ± 0.01	1.30 ± 0.01 1.16 ± 0.01 1.15 ± 0.01 1.03 ± 0.01	1.02 ± 0.01 0.84 ± 0.01
bPw	0.79 ± 0.02	0.85 ± 0.01	1.21 ± 0.01 1.02 ± 0.01	0.87 ± 0.01
EL Ew	2.40 ± 0.05 1.50 ± 0.04	2.73 ± 0.02 1.56 ± 0.01	3.53 ± 0.02 3.13 ± 0.02 2.24 ± 0.01 1.86 ± 0.01	2.96 ± 0.02 1.67 ± 0.01
AL	2.19 ± 0.06	2.42 ± 0.03	3.29 ± 0.03 2.74 ± 0.02	2.98 ± 0.02
PL/MPw aPw/MPw	0.93 ± 0.01 0.55 ± 0.01	0.91 ± 0.01 0.68 ± 0.00	0.96 ± 0.01 0.94 ± 0.01 0.66 ± 0.00 0.67 ± 0.00	0.86 ± 0.00 0.65 ± 0.00
mPw/MPw	0.85 ± 0.01	0.85 ± 0.00	0.88 ± 0.00 0.89 ± 0.00	0.82 ± 0.00
bPw/mPw aPw/bPw	0.99 ± 0.01 0.65 ± 0.01	1.02 ± 0.00 0.78 ± 0.01	1.05 ± 0.01 0.99 ± 0.01 0.71 ± 0.01 0.76 ± 0.01	1.04 ± 0.00 0.79 ± 0.01
EL/Ew	1.61 ± 0.02	1.75 ± 0.01	1.58 ± 0.01 1.69 ± 0.01	1.77 ± 0.01
AL/BL MPw/Ew	0.63 ± 0.01 0.63 ± 0.01	0.63 ± 0.01 0.63 ± 0.00	0.65 ± 0.00 0.61 ± 0.00 0.58 ± 0.00 0.62 ± 0.00	0.73 ± 0.00 0.61 ± 0.00